Master Gardener Tour: A Great Way to Learn

Are you searching for ideas as to what to do with your front, back or side yard?  Are you curious as to how Rhody Native™ plants would look in your space?  You could page through garden books or magazines or you could be inspired by the Gardening with the Masters tour which is sponsored by the URI Master Gardener Foundation on Saturday and Sunday, July 13 and 14.  The tour features 35 Master Gardeners who are opening their gardens across Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. rain or shine.  The $20 program acts as a ticket which is good for both days. It can be purchased online at www.urimastergardeners.org and at local garden centers.5

Welcome……to the 2013 Gardening with the Masters™ Tour.

Your tour guide booklet is a personal two-day admission ticket to 35 inspiring gardens, 23 of which are new to this year’s tour. They are all designed, created, and maintained by URI Master Gardeners. All URI Master Gardeners have completed a 16 week education program through the University of Rhode Island in all aspects of gardening, sustainability, and sound environmental practices. These URI Master Gardeners are opening their gardens to you as part of the outreach mission of the URI Master Gardener Association. We hope that you will ask questions and learn from them; and take home ideas for your own gardens. Cameras are welcome, note-taking encouraged; but most importantly, enjoy the beauty of these two days and have fun visiting as many of the gardens as possible.

Master Gardeners have completed a 16-week education program through the University of Rhode Island in all aspects of gardening, sustainability and sound environmental practices.  “The opening of the gardens is part of the outreach mission of the URI Master Gardeners,” remarks this year’s MG Tour Co-chairs, Art and Peggy Buttenbaum. In addition, visitors are encouraged to ask questions, take notes and bring a camera, learn from the home owner, and try the ideas in their own gardens.  Kate Venturini, Interim Director of the URI CELS Outreach Center, states that your gardening questions are answered by the very people whose garden you are visiting.

Three of the 35 public and private gardens are located in Bristol County.  You are invited into these peaceful havens where you will find a rich array of color and texture to please the senses.  Hardscape with stone and pavers have been used to create walkways and backdrops for four seasons of color with shrubs and flowers.  In one garden statuary peeks out when you least expect it and another features an ornate iron gate.  There are also ponds and a waterfall to soothe the soul.  The proceeds from this sixth biennial tour will be used to continue the Master Gardener educational and outreach programs throughout the state.